Veritas
by Silver Mirror
Summary: Phil runs into his ex-wife who he hasn't seen in eight years after ending things to be with the one he truly loves, of course that's not the reason he gave but since he ran into her with his eight year old daughter the truth must come out. SLASH, Mpreg


**A/N:** So this is my first attempt at writing in this fandom. I'm not really sure where this story came from as it basically wrote itself so that means its pretty much set as an A/U. Also if you recognize a character I don't own them and vice versa. There is Slash and M/Preg but I won't get into the detail of how this is possible, it just is. Also this is a one-shot.

Elizabeth waved at her niece and nephew as they went by on the Merry-Go-Round when she heard a warning call before someone bumped into her legs. Reflexes had her quickly bending down to catch the young girl before she fell.

"Tasha you have to be more careful and what have we told you about running off like that?" The man sighed as he picked up his daughter. "I'm sorry about that."

"It's no prob…" Elizabeth started to say as she straightened. "Phil?"

"Liz? Oh wow, it's been awhile." Phil replied as he shifted Tasha to his other hip.

"Yes, it has been. How have you been Phil?"

"Ah, good… I'm doing really good and yourself?"

"I've been good as well." Elizabeth laughed nervously. "I'm sorry this just feels a bit awkward. You'd think it wouldn't be after, what, eight years?"

Phil laughed as he shifted his daughter. "Eight years sounds about right. So, what brings you to New York?"

"I'm actually just here visiting my sister and her family."

"Nancy and Harris right?"

"Yes, along with my nephew Eric and my niece Ally." Elizabeth smiled as she looked back at the Merry-Go-Round to wave. "So how about you, Mr. I never want to have kids, is Tasha you're only child?"

Phil winced slightly and looked down. "Tasha's the oldest of three actually. I have twin sons, Steve and Jacob. We're actually here to celebrate their fifth birthday."

"Somehow it doesn't surprise me that you would name one of your sons after Captain America. Your wife had no problem with this I take it?"

"Well, I was told that no way could I name the boys Captain and America but I was allowed to name one son Steve and the other boy we named Jacob after my Grandfather."

"I'm named after my Godmother Natasha." Tasha added shyly.

"That's a beautiful name. How old are you Tasha?"

"I'll be eight this August."

Elizabeth felt numb. "Eight? Wow, you're practically a lady."

"Liz… Elizabeth." Phil winced and then set Tasha down. "Sweetie, you're uh, mother is over at the duck pond with your brothers why don't you go join them."

Tasha sent her father a quick look and then headed towards the pond before stopping. "It was nice to meet you Miss Elizabeth."

"You as well Miss Tasha, enjoy the rest of your day." Elizabeth waved at the girl then quickly turned and looked at Phil. "Now tell me Phillip, did you know that you were going to have a child before or after you asked for the divorce?"

"Elizabeth." Phil started, looking in the direction his daughter had gone.

"I would appreciate it if you would look at me Phillip. I think I deserve to hear the truth from you at least this one time."

Phil looked up and sighed. "You deserve the truth, I know that Liz. Can we just have a seat, please?"

"Fine." Elizabeth quickly sent a text off to her sister before sitting down. "So now am I actually going to hear the total truth or will it like your job and just be a bunch of the usual bullshit?"

"I couldn't tell you the full truth about my job. I only told you what I did to keep you safe, I never wanted to you to be hurt."

"You managed that just fine on your own Phil. I was completely blindsided when you asked for the divorce but I took your excuses as I didn't want to over analysis at what I did wrong."

"Oh Liz, you did nothing wrong. It was all me, work just consumed me and what I do is a big part of who I am."

"Yes, your secret dangerous government job. One of the reasons you never wanted to have children."

"I still can't tell you who I work for or what I do but I will tell you that the people I work with are some of the most dangerous group of people in the world and I trust all of them with my life and the lives of my children."

"I see, so speaking of children, I've done the math in my head and Tasha was born six months after we signed the divorce papers. So what was it, a one-time fling that resulted in a child and then I assume a marriage based on the wedding ring you're wearing." Elizabeth took in a deep breath before continuing. "Or was it an affair?"

Phil winced and rubbed his wedding band.

"I see… how long had the affair been going on until you finally came to me about the divorce?" Liz asked, as she glanced down at her hands. "I'm also assuming that it was a co-worker as you were always at the office. I guess you being a married man didn't bother them that much."

"I never wore my ring into the office; I always took it off and left it in the glove box. So my co-workers had no idea I was married, which I know is no excuse. And the affair started shortly after our second anniversary, when I started working longer hours at the office." Phil sighed and glanced over his shoulder. "When the affair first started it was just about sex but then when I almost lost… well, it soon became more, and I fell in love. Once I realized that I came straight to you about the divorce and I should have told you the truth then but I couldn't and when you just signed the papers without asking questions I took the cowards' way out and let you believe the excuses I told you." Phil looked back at Elizabeth and met her eyes. "Tasha was a complete surprise, one we didn't find out about until a few months before she was born. The fact that we had her and the boys should be impossible, hell it's a miracle and one I'm thankful for every day."

Elizabeth frowned as she processed this new information. "I'm not really sure what to say now, I wanted the truth and I got it but I'm still mad at you and I'm not sure if I could ever forgive you."

"Oh Liz, I don't expect you to forgive me and I wish I could give you the most heartfelt apology because I went about everything the wrong way and I hurt you deeply but at the same time I can't regret the direction my life took, which is the worst things I could say." Phil muttered the last bit to himself. "But I am sorry for how I ended things, and I want you to know that for a time I did love you, but I no longer felt that way when the affair started and I should have said something then instead of letting it go on for so many months."

"To be honest with you, I realized after the divorce that I was also no longer in love with you which helped me to move on but there was always the question of why and how everything went wrong that kept me from fully moving on."

"The only thing I want is for you to be happy and I hope that you are."

"I am happy Phil and I don't have to ask you if you are as it's written all over your face." Elizabeth leaned forward and squeezed Phil's hand. "Well,I guess I better let you get back to Mrs. Coulson and the kids."

Phil blushed slightly. "Yeah, about that..."

Twin cries of Daddy rang out before two young boys launched at Phil. Following them was Tasha who smiled up at Elizabeth before looking at her father. "Dad says its time to go back to the tower now for food and cake."

"And presents!" The one boy exclaimed.

"Presents first, then food." The other boy smiled. "Uncle Tony says that's the order of things."

"Your Uncle Tony says a lot of things but that doesn't mean you should listen to him." The man who joined the group smiled down at his sons. "But I guess in this one instant he might be right. Just don't let him know I said that."

Elizabeth couldn't help but stare at the man, who appeared to be in his mid to late thirties and unmistakably handsome and also wearing a wedding band matching Phil's. "So…" She cleared her throat. "This is the new Mrs. Coulson?"

Phil started to laugh until a glare had him clearing his throat. "Umm, yes Elizabeth this is my husband Clint Barton-Coulson. Clint, this is Elizabeth Jensen my ex-wife."

"The mother comment makes some sense now." Clint flashed an awkward smile and held out his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Elizabeth stood up and shook his hand. "I didn't think I would be saying this but the pleasure is all mine. But I have to say, you look really familiar… do I know you from somewhere?"

"I don't think so, just one of those faces I'm sure." Clint turned and squeezed Phil's shoulder. "We got to get going babe, before Thor eats all the food. Why don't I take the kids and meet you at the car?"

"Sounds good, I'll be right behind you." Phil replied as he stood up and passed him the twins.

Clint smiled at Elizabeth one last time before turning to leave. "Come on Tasha, time to go home."

Once the group was far enough away, Elizabeth turned and studied Phil. "Well, you failed to mention that your co-worker was male but somehow I'm not surprised. You two look good together and the five of you make a beautiful family."

"In five months that number will be up by one." Phil smiled. "You know it wasn't until I held Tasha for the first time I realized how badly I wanted children."

Elizabeth smiled sadly. "I'm happy Clint is able to give you everything you want and tell him I said he looks fantastic."

"Oh I will. It helps if I say it several times a day." Phil leaned over and hugged her. "It was really good seeing you Elizabeth. We should have sat down and had this talk years ago."

"It was good to see you as well and I think it was a good thing we waited this long to talk about this. I'm not sure how well this conversation would have gone down eight years ago. But let's not wait so long before the next time we talk. We were good friends before and I don't have many of those in my life." Elizabeth smiled as she passed Phil her number. "Plus I want to hear all about the newest Coulson once he or she is born."

"Take care of yourself Liz."

"I will the same to you Phil and your family." Elizabeth watched him for a moment before turning and joining her family.

"Was that your ex-husband?" Nancy asked as she looked over her sister's shoulder.

"Yes, along with his husband and their children." Elizabeth answered.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm fine; it was good to finally close the book on that one." Elizabeth smiled as her niece rushed forward and grabbed her hand.

"Aunt Liz, I can't believe you shook hands with a superhero." Ally gushed.

"That's pretty cool Aunt Liz." Eric nodded in agreement. "Hawkeye is pretty badass."

"Hawkeye?" Elizabeth frowned slightly as she tried to remember where she heard that name before.

"He's one of the Avengers and he's sexy as hell. His real name is Clint something." Ally smiled.

"I knew I had seen his face before. Well, next time I talk to Phil I'm demanding the story on how he ended up married to a superhero." Elizabeth laughed. "Also this explains so much of the secretiveness surrounding what he does for a living."

Phil smiled as he caught sight of his husband leaning against the back of their SUV.

"So, that was your ex-wife. She's gorgeous by the way, and she seems super nice." Clint said as he crossed his arms across himself. "It totally blows up the picture I had in my mind of this bitchy hag of a woman."

Phil placed his hands on his husband's slightly extended belly. "She's not even close to being as gorgeous as you are."

"Bah, I feel fat and tired right now."

"Never in my eyes." Phil told him as he pulled his husband close.

Clint smiled as he relaxed into the embrace. "So, first time in eight years that you two have seen each other and finally talked. From what I saw it seemed to have gone okay."

"I still feel bad about the fact that I didn't tell her the truth eight years ago, but Liz said that it was it was most likely for the best that we didn't have this conversation then."

"I'm sure she's right, I can remember how angry I was at you when you told me you were married. I wanted to shoot you in the ass with an arrow." Clint chuckled.

"Yeah, I remember that day quite clearly. It's the only time you've ever been really angry at me. I also remember that you wouldn't talk to me for a week after that and when I left to get the divorced papers signed they sent you and Natasha off to Budapest and I almost lost you, again." Phil looked into the SUV where his daughter was sitting. "I almost lost her."

"Hey." Clint's hands cupped Phil's face. "Don't let your mind take you there, especially not today." Clint told him before leaning forward to kiss Phil.

Phil leaned in and kissed his husband again. "I love you and the children we have and the child we have on the way so much. I couldn't imagine my life without you all in it and I'm so thankful I never will."

"I love you too Phil." Clint smiled. "One more thing before we go, after I got the 'where are you' phone call from Tony I received a call from Dr. Michaels in regard to the ultrasound I had done yesterday. I was going to surprise you with it last night but there was some double checking the doctor wanted to do and I didn't want to worry you."

Phil stopped and squeezed Clint's hand. "You could have told me, you don't have to worry about anything on your own."

"I know, but don't worry. Everyone's healthy and in fact, he was able to confirm if we were having a boy or a girl." Clint smiled as he walked to the passenger door.

"Well, don't leave in me in suspense, which is it." Phil said as he pulled Clint into his arms again.

"I'm thinking we could name our daughter Laura after your mother and we can name our son Jack after my grandfather. What do you think?"

"We're having another set of twins, a girl and a boy?" Phil placed his hands back on Clint's belly. "This is the best news I've gotten all day and I think the names are perfect."

Clint placed his hands on top of Phil's and smiled. "Are lives just got a little bit crazier babe."

"My life has been crazy since the first day you walked into it and I wouldn't have it any other way."

**A/N:** So if you got this far thank you for reading! It took me awhile to try and figure out where I wanted to end this story and of course as I was getting closer to the end I thought, why not write the beginning of Clint and Phil's story of my A/U? So that's something I might do. But thanks again for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!


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